Furnace heat exchanger



Feb. 19, 1952 w. R. TELLER FURNACE HEAT EXCHANGER Filed Nov. 27, 1946INVENTOR. \A/ILLIAM R. TELLER Maw A TTOF/VFY.

Patented Feb. 19, 1952 [FURNACE HEATEXGHANGER w l e n' .h- Te r. .Q end. ch p. :a sisnor. by

assi nments... o me t n afl eveland, h

Delaware ed sulperp rat en of 1 'Glaim.

This invention relates .to sheetmetal heat-rexchanger tubes for weldedassembly with similar tube units in a battery; the battery beingparticularly intended for employment to transfer heat from hightemperatureproducts of combustion, to forced air to be heated'forcomfort; as-fqr xa e n a ga -fi e orced eh fume e hni' heater.

Objects of the invention are to provide, in-such a tube, a minimum jointto be welded, a form and location facilitat g the necessary welding, andoptimum joint locatlon in subsequent service.

Another object is to attain the same desiderata, as applied to thebattery assembly of the tubes.

Still another object is to provide a batery as well as tube formtherefor, capable of serving in the furnace or the like, as an integralstructural part thereof as will appear.

Further objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription taken inconnection with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein iFig. 1 is a perspective view-of a tube unit embodyingthe invention, r

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation intermediate the ends of the tube shownin Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view'of abattery of such units,-and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of pertinent parts of a forcedair furnacein which such a battery is incorporated, nearby parts being omitted toshow detailsof construction.

In the drawings the indicated tube disposition is that providinghorizontal passage therethrough, and hereinafter terminology willi1np;ly such disposition. However, this is primarily for convenience,and to avoid confusion; audit will be 'understood'that, while "suchdisposition is preferable in some instances as will appear, theinvention is in nowise limited thereto.

With reference now to the drawings and first to Figs. 1 and 2 thereof,the tube is formed of a single, generally rectangular piece of sheetmetal generally bent upwardly on either side of its transversemidsection so that the tube provides a horizontal passageway of muchgreater height than width, is seamless at its bottom and has alongitudinal seam along its top.

The tube is formed to have rectangular section at end portions asappears in Fig. 1, each end portion including a pair of flat sidemembers I, a single flat bottom member 2, and a pair of flat top member3, meeting each other edge to edge. These members, at each end of thetube may be *2 e exiehsive lon tudinal y iheree ewe er preie eh etee htube ensl ne o the he ide members I extends outwardly slightly beyondits c r e ondin member t heme w ldin of the tribe in bat e y. a w lleppe rhe eine ter- .heneitusiihelh' i te diet these j e fi hel e endporti ns. he tube semewhetle width all? s ee teu ed 9 eridee e earn rsas 1 di ete t it top .th 'thhe its .l hs di e eam h e ie d y" ns e heflan es ex endne betwe n an te ain see set t e re tangula end erti hs ethe tube Preferab y .eneo'f the flan e 5 ext hds up sli htl her es theothe two; thu lfermihe ,a sligh ,ereev' eb wee t e flan es to .raeiht teelding herea eha th e s e h em le esi Providin enl o adde meteinand alog s eh roove as in the shielded arc metheeo i p o i eat trans e wh l e mttin e ehins and mol ng noise, a w a pe r. h t be ma he prov. e d w h neor me eve ti all s eees se ese es .defehm hs 1. th se 'deie t net en tem nating in es.

sli ht y w thin t e anes o he ee i esre e ins si ed e mem ers I .of .t e,reet hgule end ion .9 the tube a app a s i F et- 7. 1 form th heatex'ehahse bat ers e p rality .Q tub is a ed 1; si e b .tsi e l ti n aindi at ihFig. 3-

.In ue.h, r lat on adiae nt sid m mbers t h en neri h .e each esii eehpe ref tubes a e nter ehheei zh wel in a at 8 alens their 1 v exte d pee extrem ties- These weldin operations iareieeflhates b th ,QIQWQ fe mes.elehs .sueh .ez hte ities .h th .eziteh le of one edgebeyondtheot er,.of each pair of side t e .weldes t gether .1 th sa mashe .e de cribed enheet eh w th th r oves .6 a th :l hshud he .ef the ind vidual tubes.

It will be apparent that the battery thus formed will provide, besidesthe horizontal flow path along and through each tube, a vertical flowpath between each adjacent pair of tubes, of less width than thehorizontal paths, and into which the bosses I project, the bosses ofadjacent tubes slightly clearing each other.

g It will also be apparent that the battery is of generally rectangularform about the aggregate of both its horizontal and vertical series offlow paths. More particularly at each of its aggregate horizontal flowpath ends the battery eifectively has a peripheral flange formed at thetop by the corresponding fiat top members 3 of its tube end portions, atthe bottom by the flat bottom members 2 thereof and at its lateralextremities by the far flat side members I thereof.

With reference now to Fig. 4, the battery may be assembled as anintegral part of a furnace or the like by incorporation with confiningor closure means, and including panel means adjacent corresponding endsof a series of flow paths, with flange means overlaid on thecorresponding adjacent end flange portions of the battery.

Thus as in Fig. 4, at the bottom of the battery where the closure meansmay bound a combustion chamber to enclose a burner l4 or other source ofheat, panel members 9 may be provided, having flanges I extending alongand engaging the corresponding adjacent end flange portions 2 of thetubes of the battery. Similarly at the top of the battery, to provide aflue passage leading therefrom, panel members ll may be provided withflanges I2 overlaid on the corresponding adjacent end flange portions 3of the several tubes, the upstanding flanges 5 of the longitudinal tubeseams fitting between the panel members H as indicated.

At the ends of the battery, adjacent the end tubes thereof, means suchas the panel member l3 are provided for closure to complete thecombustion chamber below the battery, and the flue passage above thebattery As will be appreciated, each closure panel member I3, of whichonly the far one appears in Fig. 4, has suitable connections with thepanel members 9 and II, and the corresponding near pair of flat sidemembers I of its near tube, so as to provide a vertical flow path fromthe combustion chamber to the flue passage, bounded on one side by thepanel member l3 and near side of the near tube, such vertical flow pathbeing half the effective width of the typical vertical flow path betweenadjacent tubes of the battery.

The parts are interconnected by welding to preserve their describedassembled relation. Suchwelding includes, in horizontal planes, at thebottom of the battery welds along the adjacent ends of the flanges i0and 2, and at the top of the battery along adjacent extremities offlanges i2 and 3. Here also, if desired, to facilitate welding the partsmay be so proportioned that the continuous flanges l0 and I2 extendslightly beyond their correspondingtube flanges 2 and 3 respectively,generally as already described in connection with thegrooves 6 and 8.

The end panels i3, besides havinginterconnection with the panels 9 and ll in a convenient manner, have edge welded connection along theextremities of the adjacent flat side members I of straight sheet metaledges, so that it is easily accomplished and the resultant joint easilyinspected. Particularly no welds are exposed to direct heat from theburner M or other source of high temperature within the combustionchamber; exposed parts of the individual tubes there being seamless. Theseams 6 at the tops of the tubes are exposed only to the relatively lowflue-gas temperatures at that location. The remaining welds are exposedonly to temperatures greatly therebelow, it being understood that inpractice, means not illustrated are provided for forcing air to beheated through the horizontal flow paths of the battery.

What I claim is:

Apparatus of the class described comprising a sheet metal heat exchangerbattery, of tubes in horizontally extending side-by-side disposition,each tube having rectangular form at each end thereof, provided by endflange means extending peripherally about the mouth of the tube, withfour rectangularly related end flange portions disposed in planeslongitudinal of the tube, each tube having curved top and bottomportions longitudinally extending between its said end flangemeans andbeing of less width between than at said end flange means, each tubebeing seamless along its bottom, and having a seam along its top formedwith upturned flanges of rectangular outline, extending between,terminating at, and upstanding beyond its said end flange means, saidupturned flanges being welded together along their upper extremities,and

' closure means for said battery, disposed at an welded to the latter attheir endwise extremities,

and said closure means including a face panel portion upstanding fromits said outturned flange and bearing against the corresponding ends ofthe upturned flanges of said seams of said tubes.

- WILLIAM R. TELLER.

REFERENCES CITED I The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 970,297 Boeck Sep. 13, 19101,673,992 7 Owen June 19, 1928 1,775,103 Hume Sept. 9, 1930 1,816,757White July 28, 1931 1,974,834 Sadwith Sept. 25, 1934 2,200,549

' Grapp May 14, 1940

